Old school has new options

LIBBY - The old high school building in downtown Libby may have a new lease on life following a meeting last week between the school board and a Spokane developer interested in renovating the nearly 90-year-old structure.

Facilitated by Friends of Historic Libby High School, the meeting was the first between the school district and a representative of ConoverBond Development, which is proposing to buy the building and remodel it for commercial, residential or government use.

ConoverBond's Ryan Romaneski said his company, which has been restoring historic buildings since 1986, is excited about the role the building could play in a revitalized downtown. He said the first thing he wanted to do was dispel rumors that the building can't be saved.

ConoverBond has renovated buildings far more deteriorated and with complications such as asbestos and lead paint that needed to be dealt with, he said.

"It is absolutely possible to save that building," he said.

Romaneski said four basic options have been studied: general office use, apartments or condominiums, a hotel, and civic/government use. The last option has been examined most closely, he said.

The Libby City Council has expressed some interest in moving city offices to the old school building, Romaneski said.

Romaneski put the price tag for renovating the building at around $2.6 million. He said funding could come from a variety of sources, starting with registering the building on a national list of historic structures to allow tax credits that could then be sold to a large corporation. The income from the sale of tax credits could be used to leverage bank financing, he said.

A member of the board of directors for First National Bank has looked at the proposal, including potential rental incomes, and thinks financing from a commercial bank wouldn't be a problem, Romaneski said.

"When you come down to it and look at the numbers, the project makes sense," he said.

Additional funding could be obtained from federal grants for rural development, Romaneski said.

"Financially, the project can get done," he said.

Romaneski added that renovating the building would involve a "fairly substantial" construction contract that would employ local people.

School board member John Herrmann said the trustees are the "keepers of the purse strings" for the district and must safeguard the interests of the taxpayers. He indicated the board might support a project that seems viable.

"It's only viable if we sell it, and we have to sell it a price that makes sense to the school district," he said.

The $100,000 previously offered

by Friends of Historic Libby High School doesn't make sense, Herrmann said. After 71 percent of voters in last May's school election cast ballots supporting the sale of the building, the board sought bids, setting a price of $350,000.

The only offer the district received was from Friends of Historic Libby High School.

The building has been vacant since the Lincoln County Campus of Flathead Valley Community College moved out in 2000. Libby City Council member Gary Huntsberger, an outspoken advocate of demolishing the building, noted that he was on the school board in 2002 when the issue of renovation first came up.

"How many years do you go on?" he said. "I mean on and on and on."

There still are no specific proposals for the building, Huntsberger said, only options.

"There is no plan," he said. "There is no financial plan. There is no specific plan. There is simply a buy-sell agreement."

Huntsberger's wife, Kate, who currently sits on the school board, asked Romaneski if ConoverBond would own the building.

"I think that's a huge part of my decision," she said. "Because we want to know who is going to own the building and what they're going to do with it."

The district does not want to own the building, she said.

Romaneski said various options have been discussed, including sole ownership by ConoverBond and a public-private partnership.

School district superintendent Kirby Maki said demolishing would cost $50,000. Former school board member Lee Disney, now leading the effort to save the building, said he thinks that number is low and it would take more like $150,000 "to turn it into a nice parking lot."

The district wants to see a plan for the property and negotiate a reasonable price before selling, Maki said.

Romaneski said he would like to see a full appraisal on the building and land. Friends has already offered to pay for it, he said.

Romaneski said the next step is putting together a more concrete plan, arranging an appraisal and assembling an offer to present to the district.